Life Hacks and Split rings.

            Like any modern male my house contains a multitude of electrical items. Television, satellite box, video game consoles, DVD player, computer, backup hard drive.. the list goes on and on. Several times I have pondered the idea that electrical plug should be made with those little windows so you can slide a label into them and know what you are unplugging. One day it occurred to me that I already have numerous pots of acrylic model paints and that a simpler solution would be to simply paint names on the plugs. And so I did. Each plug is now clearly labelled and readily identified.

            I mention this since recently someone sent me a link to this page of “Life hacks”.

            Some of them are frivolous, others are genius. The wooden spoon across a pot doesn’t work in my experience. You are better off using a wider pot.

            One “Hack” I particularly liked was this one.

            I seem to have had a problem with cheap zippers that will not stay up recently, even though my lean and mean program means I am losing weight. The trick to this is the split ring goes over the button before you button up your pants. The split ring also will make it easier to work your zipper if your fingers are numb or gloved. Apart from the social benefits of  having a zipper that stays up when you want it to this a useful thing if you are in places where leeches might seek your tender flesh!

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The Scientist and the Egg.

            Science is one of humanity's greatest inventions. When most people talk about science, however they mean technology, industry, business or academia. While many of these things use science and its products, they are not in themselves science.

            Science is, in fact, a mechanism for finding the most likely correct answer, based on the data available. The cornerstones of science are observation and experimentation, with contributions from other things such as reasoning and logic.

            The other day a colleague of mine posed a question to a class of students:- “When you cook an egg, why doesn’t it always turn out the same way?” A simple question, but it was gratifying to see the whole class puzzling over this. If boiling an egg is a simple task, why can the result be so variable. One answer is that apparently simple thing often involve more variables than you have considered. What are the variables for cooking an egg or any other job you attempt? A thought I will leave you with for today.

Codex Seraphinianus.

                Following my tradition of postings something humorous or a little off the wall on Fridays I offer this leaf from the Codex Seraphinianus.

    

        As you can see, Fornication carries the risk of Crocodilification, so I would avoid the missionary position if I were you.

            This would make a great sequence for some movie!

            Codex Seraphinianus can cost you $500, or….

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Spetznaz String Vest.

            Today I’m going to post another exert from the book Aquarium, again detailing Spetsnaz apparel as described in the book.

“As for the rest of a Spetsnaz soldier's clothing, his underwear is made of thin linen. It should be new but already used a little and laundered at least once. Over the thin underwear he wears a vest made of a thick string, so that there is always a layer of air about a centimetre deep between the underwear and the outer garments. This was cleverly thought out. If it's very  hot and you are running with sweat and your whole body is burning, the string vest is your salvation. Your clothes do not cling to your body and there is excellent ventilation. When it's cold the air pocket protects the body like a feather duvet, and moreover, weighs nothing. The string vest has yet another purpose. If a mosquito get its nose through your clothes it reaches empty space and not the body. Only in very difficult circumstances does a Spetsnaz soldier allow himself to be driven out into the open. He spends his time in forests and marshes. He may lie for hours in a burning hot marsh or in fierce stinging nettles with clouds of mosquitoes buzzing around him. Only the string vest can save him then. Over it he wears trousers and a tunic of green cotton material. All seams are treble-stitched. The tunic and trousers are soft but hard-wearing. At the elbows, knees and shoulders the material is trebled for greater strength”.

I have experimented with using a string vest as outdoor wear. The time that comes to mind is during a concert in a park on a very hot day. I wore the vest under a relatively heavyweight tee-shirt and had no problems with clothing sticking to my skin, despite the humidity. As the sun went down and the air got chilly I remained comfortable, so it is an idea worth trying out.

 

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